Even native New Orleanians will admit that most
Crescent City residents have a tendency to be unaware of
life in Louisiana above Baton Rouge - if, indeed, the
state capital itself is included in their realm of
consciousness. Thus it was especially delightful to read
in the March issue of Preservation, a
publication of the Preservation Resource Center of New
Orleans, Donna Fricker's enthusiastic words about the
Southern Forest Heritage Museum and Research Center 22
miles south of Alexandria.

Calling it "one of the nation's most important
museums", Ms. Fricker, architectural historian with
Louisiana's Division of Historic Preservation, described
the site's industrial machinery that exists nowhere else
in the United States as "mind-boggling... stuff that
the Smithsonian drools over"; cited the museums
"remarkable progress" since its establishment a
decade ago; and concluded, "A national treasure is
waiting, right in your own back yard."

The museum was established in 1992 at the site of the
Crowell Sawmill in Long Leaf, in southern Rapides parish,
a century after the mill's initial construction in 1892.
When closed in 1969, the Crowell mill was the last
survivor of some 200 large sawmills in the state - 60 in
the Alexandria area alone. Rather than being dismantled,
the sawmill and its logging equipment were left intact
"right where they were when that last whistle
blew," Ms. Fricker wrote, describing its discovery
as cutting through the forest to find a "time
warp".

The museum's subsequent development in its first
decade has demonstrated remarkable success in achieving
its stated mission of preserving the cultural and natural
history of Southern forests, increasing understanding of
Southern forestry industry's heritage, promoting
awareness and pride in the forestry history and
encouraging public involvement in the museum.

The South's great sawmill boom, from 1890 until well
into the 20th century, provided Louisiana and other
Southern workers with "their first opportunity to
participate in the industrial revolution," museum
executive director Don Powell said in a recent interview
at the old commissary, now the museum's headquarters,
gift shop and interpretive center.

If anything, Powell's enthusiasm for the museum even
surpasses Ms. Fricker's. "I've never seen anything
like it," he said. While working as a forester for
International Paper Company, Powell saw many old sawmill
sites. "Most were a pile of bricks and concrete,
showing where old foundations had been. But this place is
unique because of what's here, and that's because the
Crowells never threw anything away."

A Mississippian who received his forestry degree in
1950 from the university of Michigan, Powell worked for
IP for what he described as "135 years" - give
or take a century, that is. Since retirement his
activities have included serving as president of the
Louisiana Forestry Association, of which he and his wife
Marinelle are lifetime members. He became the museum's
executive director four years ago.

When first established a decade ago the museum scene
was exciting but somewhat daunting. After inventory and
assessment of the holdings, workers had the tasks of
removing invasive vegetation and habilitating abandoned
structures. Two years later the Crowell Lumber Industries
donated a 57-acre parcel of surrounding land, further
protecting and enlarging the site. By May 1, 1996 the
museum was readied for the public.

Many visitors since have viewed such rarities as the
1919 Clyde log skidder, the only one known the exist of
2,000 manufactured; two vintage McGiffert log loaders
(very few are anywhere else in the world); three
1913-1923 steam locomotives; and a shop containing
numerous early 1900s steam-driven machines. The
commissary, built in 1948 to replace the previous one
destroyed by fire, had been Long Leaf's shopping center
and cafe; it was converted to become a welcoming area and
to house forestry related merchandise, educational
exhibits and displays of the early 19th century
artifacts. The mill manager's 1920 house, one of about
160 of Long Leaf's former residences, was repaired to
become the museum office. Other projects both large and
small were gradually added; a nature trail, a railroad
motorcar tour; an interpretive film.

All the while, new developments were ongoing. Unlike
some stuffy institutions, nothing is static about the
museum; visitors must return periodically to keep
abreast. Among activities so far in 2002, for example:
-On Arbor Day, January 12, 36 volunteers planted over 70
plants representing nearly 50 native species to create a
Native Grove Trail, a new walkway between the commissary
and the old planer mill. Funded by the Urban and
Community Forestry grant from the state's Department of
Agriculture and Forestry, the project required local
matching donations which were met by the volunteers'
hours by planting- cypress, Louisiana iris, pawpaws,
spruce pine and the like- donated by area nurseries and
individuals.
-On March 16 the museum hosted Machine Shop and Sawmill
Day in support of nearby Forest Hill's annual Nursery
Festival. Visitors watched demonstrations of logs turned
into lumber (with a portable hand-mill), mules at work
and the use of cross-cut saws, as well as the
reactivation of machinery in the machine shop.
-On April 27 the tiny Long Leaf Post Office across from
the commissary was the scene of a celebration of the
newly issued Longleaf Pine Forest Postal Stamp, the
latest addition to the Nature in America series of U.S.
commemorative stamps. Some 157 visitors including postal
service dignitaries, area public officials, and members
of Congress were present. Although the pine forest stamp
had been formally unveiled the day before in Tallahassee,
Florida, site of the Tall Timbers Research Center, the
Long Leaf Post Office's second day celebration was
engineered at the instigation of an alert museum member
and stamp buff.

The sheet of stamps, which includes ten 34-cent
stamps, beautifully depicts a longleaf pine forest
ecosystem. Pictured are birds such as the red-cockaded
woodpecker which receives protection in the Southern
forests; elusive native plants - the hooded pitcher plant
and rosebud orchid, for instance; reptiles, amphibians,
grasses and, of course, the longleaf pine. (If
unavailable at one's post office, the stamp sheet can be
ordered over the internet.)

-That same day, the recently completed panorama of 135
exhibit panels housed in a 1500-square foot hall of the
commissary was officially opened. Based on research by
the museum staff, and built and installed by Exhibits
Etc. of Scott, Louisiana, the panels chronicle both
historic and contemporary forestry data ranging from
basic information on estimating a tree's age by counting
rings to updates on sophisticated new forest technology.

Perhaps the most exciting development going on this
year is the major work underway to repair and preserve
the 1910 planer mill, the sawmill's last step in lumber
production where rough dry wood was dressed to become
market-ready lumber. The oldest example known to exist in
the South, the planer mill in 2000 had been on the list
of Louisiana's Ten Most Endangered Structures. Now it is
being rescued thanks to the help of funds from Louisiana
philanthropy. Restoration involves basic stabilization,
reroofing, replacing broken windows and installing 2-inch
tongue-in-groove pine flooring.

Avid volunteers play a major role in all of the
progress at the museum, Powell said. Such hobbyists as
John Weiss of Houston, a systems analyst of Chevron, and
engineer David Hamilton of Elton have devoted hours to
numerous repairs and renovations; rebuilding the ancient
water cooler, repairing work benches, and even replacing
all broken windows in the machine shop (of which there
were many). The men are working with museum staff in the
planer mill reflooring, expected to be completed this
summer.

On the agenda for later this year is the relocation
and reconstruction of the former post office building, a
diminutive 1910 structure now sitting abandoned across
the railroad tracks which served as post office until its
replacement by the 1965 building presently in use.

Awaiting the project's completion is the former post
office general delivery window and mailboxes which will
be installed and put into active service again. An
antique dealer bought the unit at a Texas auction and
found a scrap of an envelope inside of one of the boxes
with the Long Leaf Post Office cancellation dated 1963.
Contacting the Long Leaf postmaster, the dealer offered
to sell the unit to the museum for his purchase price of
$1400.

Although at first not totally convinced of the
window's origins, Powell said, the museum administration
agreed to buy it. Not long after, two sisters in their
70s, Long Leaf residents of long ago, came to visit the
museum. When shown the purchase, they recognized it at
once and pointed out their family's box - No.51.

"It had been too high for the little girls to
reach, they said, so their box had been moved
lower," Powell said. One of the women remembered the
combination, which she told to the site manager Henry
Taves. Taves looked inside the box where the combinations
are revealed. It was the correct combination.

"That removed all traces of doubt from our minds
that this indeed had come from Long Leaf Post
Office," Powell said.

One of the fun things to do in the commissary area is
to look back at the menus served in the cafe's last year
of operation. On May 2, 1969, for instance, the midday
dinner fare was steak and gravy, mashed potatoes, butter
beans, strawberries and D.W. (A.K.A. Dream Whip).

Considering the energy and effectiveness of this
museum staff and supporters, it would hardly be
surprising if the old cafe might be serving butter beans
and strawberries again one of these days. New Orleans,
keep your eyes on developments in Long Leaf.

Tax-deductible membership fees, from $20 up, entitle
members to free admission to the museum, store discounts,
subscription to the quarterly newsletter "Edgings
and Trimmings" and notification of special events.

The museum is open every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
except Thanksgiving and Christmas.

To reach the museum from Interstate 49 South of
Alexandria, take exit 66 onto Louisiana Highway 112 and
travel west to Forest Hill; turn south at the sign on
Louisiana Highway 497 in Forest Hill and drive
approximately three miles to the museum entrance. From
U.S. Highway 165 in Glenmora, turn east one block and
follow Louisiana Highway 497 north less than two miles.

Entrance fee for the basic walking tour is $6 for
adults and $3 for children. If the motorcar tour through
the woods is included, the price is $8.50 for adults and
$4.25 for children. Groups receive a discount; school
classes and other group tours are welcome. (Reservations
must be made in advance.) Telephone 318-748-8404; write
the Southern Forest Heritage Museum, P.O. Box 101, Long
Leaf, LA 71448-0101; e-mail the museum at longleaf@centurytel.net,
or visit the website at www.forestheritagemuseum.org for
further information.